Norman Lim Kwong (born Kwong Lim Yew; ; October 24, 1929 – September 3, 2016) was a
Canadian football
Canadian football () is a sport played in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete for territorial control of a field of play long and wide attempting to advance a pointed oval-shaped ball into the opposing team's scoring area ( ...
player who played for the
Calgary Stampeders and
Edmonton Eskimos
The Edmonton Elks are a professional Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club competes in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member of the league's West Division and plays their home games at the Brick Field at Comm ...
of the
Canadian Football League
The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a c ...
(CFL). He was also an active businessman and politician being part owner of the
Calgary Flames
The Calgary Flames are a professional ice hockey team based in Calgary. The Flames compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference, and are the third major professional ice hockey te ...
and serving as the
16th Lieutenant Governor of Alberta
The lieutenant governor of Alberta () is the viceregal representative in Alberta of the . The lieutenant governor is appointed in the same manner as the other provincial viceroys in Canada and is similarly tasked with carrying out most of the m ...
from January 2005 to May 2010.
The son of Chinese immigrants from
Taishan,
Guangdong
Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020 ...
, Kwong was the first Canadian professional
player of Chinese heritage. In addition, Kwong was also the first person of Chinese heritage to serve as lieutenant-governor of
Alberta
Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest T ...
. As a former
vice-regal representative of Alberta, he was styled "
The Honourable
''The Honourable'' (British English) or ''The Honorable'' ( American English; see spelling differences) (abbreviation: ''Hon.'', ''Hon'ble'', or variations) is an honorific style that is used as a prefix before the names or titles of certa ...
" for life. Kwong was the third
Canadian of Chinese heritage to be appointed as a vice-regal in Canada, after
David Lam and
Adrienne Clarkson
Adrienne Louise Clarkson (; ; born February 10, 1939) is a Hong Kong-born Canadian journalist who served from 1999 to 2005 as Governor General of Canada, the 26th since Canadian Confederation.
Clarkson arrived in Canada with her family in 19 ...
.
Early life
Kwong was born in
Calgary
Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, maki ...
,
Alberta
Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest T ...
on October 24, 1929, to a Chinese immigrant family. His father, Charles Lim Kwong, immigrated to
Canada in 1907 and had to pay the
head tax, and his mother, Lily Lee, immigrated with her family in 1912.
Their marriage was arranged by their parents. They lived in
British Columbia
British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, for ...
at first, but moved to Calgary because anti-Chinese discrimination was less severe there, and Charles was able to open his own business, the
Riverside Cash and Carry Store. Norman (Lim Kwong Yew) was the fifth of six siblings. They were lucky to have both parents in Canada, as family reunion was restricted at the time for
Chinese Canadians
, native_name =
, native_name_lang =
, image = Chinese Canadian population by province.svg
, image_caption = Chinese Canadians as percent of population by province / territory
, pop = 1,715,7704.63% of the ...
and many children grew up with one parent.
Sports career
In 1947, Canada's
Chinese Exclusion Act
The Chinese Exclusion Act was a United States federal law signed by President Chester A. Arthur on May 6, 1882, prohibiting all immigration of Chinese laborers for 10 years. The law excluded merchants, teachers, students, travelers, and diplo ...
was repealed for contravening the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoni ...
'
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is an international document adopted by the United Nations General Assembly that enshrines the rights and freedoms of all human beings. Drafted by a UN committee chaired by Eleanor Roosevelt ...
. Chinese Canadians were given citizen rights for the first time, and barriers for Chinese in professional sports also came down.
After playing
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...
at
Western Canada High School, Kwong went on to play for the
Calgary Stampeders from 1948 to 1950 and, after a trade, the
Edmonton Eskimos
The Edmonton Elks are a professional Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club competes in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member of the league's West Division and plays their home games at the Brick Field at Comm ...
from 1951 until his retirement in 1960. Nicknamed the "
China Clipper", Kwong was the first
Chinese Canadian
, native_name =
, native_name_lang =
, image = Chinese Canadian population by province.svg
, image_caption = Chinese Canadians as percent of population by province / territory
, pop = 1,715,7704.63% of the ...
to play on a professional
Canadian football
Canadian football () is a sport played in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete for territorial control of a field of play long and wide attempting to advance a pointed oval-shaped ball into the opposing team's scoring area ( ...
team. A powerful
fullback, in 11 years of recorded statistics Kwong rushed for 9,022 yards for an average of 5.2 yards per carry and scored 93 touchdowns. He won the
Grey Cup
The Grey Cup (french: Coupe Grey) is both the championship game of the Canadian Football League (CFL) and the trophy awarded to the victorious team playing in the namesake championship of professional Canadian football. The game is contested be ...
four times during his career (
1948
Events January
* January 1
** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated.
** The Constitution of New Jersey (later subject to amendment) goes into effect.
** The railways of Britain are nationalized, to form British ...
, 1954, 1955, and
1956
Events
January
* January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan.
* January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim Elliot and Pete Fleming, are kille ...
). Kwong was a
Western Conference all-star
running back
A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball,
and block. Th ...
and three-time winner of the
Eddie James Memorial Trophy, in 1951, 1955 and 1956. He was named the
Schenley Most Outstanding Canadian in 1955 and 1956. He was named Canadian Athlete of the Year in 1955. He was inducted into the
Canadian Football Hall of Fame
The Canadian Football Hall of Fame (CFHOF) is a not-for-profit corporation, located in Hamilton, Ontario, that celebrates great achievements in Canadian football. It is maintained by the Canadian Football League (CFL). It includes displays about ...
in 1969,
Canada's Sports Hall of Fame
Canada's Sports Hall of Fame (french: Panthéon des sports canadiens; sometimes referred to as the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame) is a Canadian sports hall of fame and museum in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Dedicated to the history of sports in Canada ...
in 1975, the Edmonton Eskimos'
Wall of Honour in 1983, the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame in 1980, and the Calgary Stampeders'
Wall of Fame in 2012 (as a builder of that sports organization). In November 2006, he was one of very few of his contemporaries to be voted one of the
Canadian Football League
The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a c ...
's
Top 50 players of the sport's modern era by Canadian sports network
TSN. Kwong set the CFL record for the most yards rushing by a Canadian in a season with 1,437 in the 1956 season. This record held for 56 years, being broken by
Jon Cornish
Jon Cornish (born November 5, 1984) is a former Canadian football running back who played nine seasons with the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He was drafted 13th overall in the 2006 CFL Draft after playing college f ...
only in 2012, though Kwong accomplished his record in fifteen games, rather than eighteen for Cornish.
He was president and general manager of the Calgary Stampeders from 1988 to 1991, leading the team to a loss in the Grey Cup final in 1991. Between 1980 and 1994, Kwong was a part owner of the
Calgary Flames
The Calgary Flames are a professional ice hockey team based in Calgary. The Flames compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference, and are the third major professional ice hockey te ...
, having been one of the original group of six Calgary businessmen who bought and moved the NHL's Atlanta Flames hockey team to
Calgary
Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, maki ...
in 1980. The Calgary Flames won the
Stanley Cup
The Stanley Cup (french: La Coupe Stanley) is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, an ...
in 1989, making him one of five people whose name is on both the Grey Cup and the Stanley Cup. The feat would later be matched by
Wayne Gretzky
Wayne Douglas Gretzky ( ; born January 26, 1961) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and former head coach. He played 20 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for four teams from 1979 to 1999. Nicknamed "the Great One ...
, who in an interesting symmetry to Kwong's achievement has his name on the Stanley Cup four times as a player and on the Grey Cup once as an owner.
Public service career
Kwong's public stature from sports helped him move on to politics and government.
In 1971 he ran for the
Alberta Progressive Conservative party in
Calgary-Millican
Calgary-Millican was a provincial electoral district in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta using the first past the post method of voting from 1971 to 1993.
History
The Calgary-M ...
. In this election, the PCs ended
Social Credit's 36-year hold on power, winning all but five seats in
Calgary
Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, maki ...
. However, Kwong himself was defeated by longtime incumbent
Arthur J. Dixon
Arthur Johnson Dixon CM (December 1, 1919 – February 5, 2007) was a real estate and insurance agent, and a former member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1952 to 1975 sitting with the Social Credit caucus in government and oppositio ...
who won by a 1,600 vote
plurality.
In 1988 Kwong was made a member of the
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit.
To coincide with the cen ...
and served as the national chairman of the Canadian Consultative Council on
Multiculturalism
The term multiculturalism has a range of meanings within the contexts of sociology, political philosophy, and colloquial use. In sociology and in everyday usage, it is a synonym for " ethnic pluralism", with the two terms often used interchang ...
. Kwong was appointed
Lieutenant-Governor of Alberta
The lieutenant governor of Alberta () is the viceregal representative in Alberta of the . The lieutenant governor is appointed in the same manner as the other provincial viceroys in Canada and is similarly tasked with carrying out most of the m ...
on January 20, 2005, replacing
Lois Hole, who died in office on January 6, 2005. Kwong welcomed
Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...
to
Alberta
Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest T ...
in June 2005 on a visit commemorating
Alberta
Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest T ...
's first 100 years in
Canadian Confederation
Canadian Confederation (french: Confédération canadienne, link=no) was the process by which three British North American provinces, the Province of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, were united into one federation called the Dominio ...
. During a private audience the Queen presented Kwong with the insignia of a Knight of Justice in the
Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem
The Order of St John, short for Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem (french: l'ordre très vénérable de l'Hôpital de Saint-Jean de Jérusalem) and also known as St John International, is a British royal order of ...
.
Kwong swore
Ed Stelmach
Edward Michael Stelmach (; born May 11, 1951) is a Canadian politician and served as the 13th premier of Alberta, from 2006 to 2011. The grandson of Ukrainian immigrants, Stelmach was born and raised on a farm near Lamont and fluently speak ...
into office as the
13th Premier of Alberta on December 14, 2006. Kwong's term concluded on May 11, 2010, and he was succeeded by
Don Ethell.
Personal life
Kwong married Mary Lee on March 26, 1960, and together they had four sons: Gregory, Bradley, Martin, and Randall.
[ He died in his sleep on September 3, 2016, at the age of 86. He was survived by his wife, four sons, and ten grandchildren.
]
Arms
Honours
* In 2006 Kwong received an Honorary Degree
An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad h ...
of Doctor of Laws
A Doctor of Law is a degree in law. The application of the term varies from country to country and includes degrees such as the Doctor of Juridical Science (J.S.D. or S.J.D), Juris Doctor (J.D.), Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), and Legum Doctor ...
from the University of Alberta
The University of Alberta, also known as U of A or UAlberta, is a Public university, public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford,"A Gentleman of Strathcona – Alexande ...
.
See also
* The Honourable
''The Honourable'' (British English) or ''The Honorable'' ( American English; see spelling differences) (abbreviation: ''Hon.'', ''Hon'ble'', or variations) is an honorific style that is used as a prefix before the names or titles of certa ...
David Lam - former Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia and Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...
's first vice-regal of Chinese heritage
* The Right Honourable
''The Right Honourable'' ( abbreviation: ''Rt Hon.'' or variations) is an honorific style traditionally applied to certain persons and collective bodies in the United Kingdom, the former British Empire and the Commonwealth of Nations. The ter ...
Adrienne Clarkson
Adrienne Louise Clarkson (; ; born February 10, 1939) is a Hong Kong-born Canadian journalist who served from 1999 to 2005 as Governor General of Canada, the 26th since Canadian Confederation.
Clarkson arrived in Canada with her family in 19 ...
- former Governor General of Canada
The governor general of Canada (french: gouverneure générale du Canada) is the federal viceregal representative of the . The is head of state of Canada and the 14 other Commonwealth realms, but resides in oldest and most populous realm ...
and the first Chinese Canadian
, native_name =
, native_name_lang =
, image = Chinese Canadian population by province.svg
, image_caption = Chinese Canadians as percent of population by province / territory
, pop = 1,715,7704.63% of the ...
to serve in the post
* Larry Kwong
Lawrence Kwong (born Eng Kai Geong; ; June 17, 1923 – March 15, 2018) was a Canadian professional ice hockey forward who was the first non-White and Asian descent player in the National Hockey League (NHL). He broke the NHL's colour barrier wh ...
, the original "China Clipper", former NHL hockey player and first Chinese-Canadian NHL player
* Peter Ing former NHL goaltender
* Philip S. Lee
Philip Siu Lun Lee Retrieved August 31, 2011. (born May 5, 1944; Chinese: 李紹麟) was the 24th lieutenant governor of Manitoba. He was made a Member of the Order of Canada in 1999 and received the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal in 2002.
...
, former Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba
See also
*'' Lost Years: A People's Struggle for Justice''
References
External links
Lost Years (Episode 2) CBC TV, August 27, 2011 & March 3, 2012
* ttp://www.lieutenantgovernor.ab.ca/ Office of the Lieutenant Governor
"Calgary Flames"
, ''Canadian Encyclopedia''.
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20060427015443/http://www.histori.ca/minutes/minute.do?id=14249 Historica Minute: Normie Kwong
"Norman Kwong"
''The Canadian Encyclopedia''.
Canada's Sports Hall of Fame profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kwong, Norman
1929 births
2016 deaths
21st-century Canadian politicians
Calgary Flames owners
Calgary Stampeders players
Canadian sportsperson-politicians
Canadian football fullbacks
Canadian Football Hall of Fame inductees
Canadian Football League Most Outstanding Canadian Award winners
Canadian football running backs
Canadian politicians of Chinese descent
Canadian sportspeople of Chinese descent
Edmonton Elks players
Knights of Justice of the Order of St John
Lieutenant Governors of Alberta
Members of the Alberta Order of Excellence
Members of the Order of Canada
People educated at Western Canada High School
Players of Canadian football from Alberta
Politicians from Calgary
Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta candidates in Alberta provincial elections
Sportspeople from Calgary
Stanley Cup champions